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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22411672">a road without length</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenbach/pseuds/serenbach'>serenbach</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Scrivener's Tale [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pillars of Eternity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Wael Clergy Dating Simulator, ttrpg godsquad</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 14:26:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,681</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22411672</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenbach/pseuds/serenbach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The adventures of Ona Casals, Scrivener of Wael, after the Saint's War as she sails with Kauri towards the Deadfire and all the mysteries it holds.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>OC/OC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Scrivener's Tale [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1616713</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>TTRPG Godsquad</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. You're so comfortable</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bazylia_de_Grean/gifts">Bazylia_de_Grean</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/rannadylin/gifts">rannadylin</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/aban_ataashi/gifts">aban_ataashi</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Here is a collection for Ona's adventures after the end of our ttrpg campaign! Rated M just in case, because Ona and Kauri, uh, enjoy each other's company a <i>lot.</i></p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"You're so comfortable" prompted by Bazylia_de_Grean</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Afterwards, when they were sprawled out together with the last of Kauri’s magic still shimmering on their skin, Ona started to laugh, purely happy.</p><p>Kauri pushed himself up just enough to look at her, a smile curving his lips. “I take it my cabin is comfortable enough for you, then?”  </p><p>“Well,” Ona said, stretching out languidly. She was lying more on Kauri than the bed at this point. “You’re <em>very</em> comfortable.”  </p><p>Kauri ran his hand through her hair and down her spine, a ticklish caress that made her twitch a little and start laughing again, and then his hand went a little <em>lower. </em>And then he squeezed.</p><p>Ona giggled, and leaned upwards to kiss him again.  </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Sit still, I’m trying to braid your hair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Sit still, I'm trying to braid your hair" prompted by Bazylia_de_Grean</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kauri was so much taller than her that even when he was sitting she had to kneel upright to properly reach his hair.</p>
<p>“What are you doing back there?” he asked, lazy amusement in his voice when he felt her hands thread through his hair.</p>
<p>“Playing with your hair!” she told him, focusing on separating his dreadlocks into three parts and twisting them into a plait.</p>
<p>She was concentrating so hard on his hair (she kept hers short for a reason after all - long hair is such hard work!) that she didn’t notice Kauri’s hand sneak towards her and tickle the back of her thigh.</p>
<p>Ona flailed backwards onto the bed and laughed as Kauri followed, still tickling her, and as he did the beginning of the plait fell out of his hair.</p>
<p>“Hey, sit still!” Ona protested breathlessly, still laughing, while trying to wriggle away from his hands. “I’m trying to braid your hair, here!”  </p>
<p>Kauri laughed, low and warm, and pulled his hand back, kissing her before he sat up. Ona went back to happily amusing herself by braiding his hair, and if the end result was a bit lopsided, neither of them minded.   </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. just five more minutes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"just five more minutes" prompted by rannadylin on tumblr!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ona spent her first day at sea – when not, uh, otherwise <em>occupied</em> with Kauri – exploring the ship.</p><p>She made friends with the crew and learnt some boat words (or ship words, rather, they had all been very specific about the difference!) and she poked around trying to see through the illusions on the ship, even hanging a little over the railings to see if she could spot the hidden eye on the bow.</p><p>By now, Defiance Bay wasn’t even a glimmer on the horizon behind them, and there was nothing but ocean and sky in front of them, endlessly blue until the sunset painted the sea red and gold, and Ona watched until the stars started coming out. She was <em>almost</em> sure that she could still hear them humming far above her.</p><p>Soon, she would go and find Kauri, and have something to eat, and then they would no doubt find themselves occupied again for the rest of the night.</p><p>But for just five more minutes, she would stare up at the stars with joy fizzing through her veins like that time she swiped some champagne from a fancy party, and smile.   </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>What would you call champagne in a fantasy setting that doesn't have a champagne region? I spent far too long overthinking this!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Ona's guilt letter!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>So Bazylia_de_Grean and I belatedly realised that a) Ona didn't tell her grandma she was leaving with the gods squad, b) she didn't say goodbye to Gudlaug when they left Mercy Vale, c) she ran away to sea without telling anyone where she was going and d) it's entirely possible that her family think she is still a prisoner in Readceras! So this is my attempt at fixing it, lol!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Hi Grandma!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that I have not exactly been around! I have actually been on a very important mission for the Duc with three other Priests. And I know that sounds like a crazy story I have made up to get out of trouble, but I promise it’s true!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>(It's probably best not to try and confirm it with the Palace though. It's kind of a long story, I’ll explain in person later!)</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Speaking of long stories, I have written an account of our journey! It will be published as soon as the palace approves it so you will probably be able to read it for yourself before I get back to tell you the tale.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Almost as soon as I got back to the city I was sent on another mission, this time for Wael. I won’t know exactly where we’re going until I get there, and I don’t know how long I’ll be away but you can probably tell from the fact that I gave this letter to Great-Uncle Kerrig in Port Maje that I am not in the Dyrwood anymore!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don’t worry, I am not alone. There is another Priest of Wael with me. His name is Kauri. I’ll introduce you when I get back, I think you’ll like him!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I ran into Gudlaug on our journey - if you see her please let her know I am alright. She may have heard some concerning news from Ysla. If she hasn’t heard anything, please ignore that last sentence, everything turned out okay in the end! I hope that Ysla managed to reach her with plenty of time to spare.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I hope that that the war hasn’t affected things too badly and that you are okay too!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I'll send word when I can.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Love Ona</em>
</p><p>
  <em>P.s You may have met my friend Idalia by now – she gave me a letter for her grandma but I forgot and brought it with me. Could you forward it on to the temple in Gilded Vale for me? Thanks, Grandma, you’re the best!</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. I made this for you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"I made this for you" prompted by aban-ataashi on tumblr! </p>
<p>In which Kauri draws Ona like one of his <strike>French</strike> Vailian girls!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Here, I made this for you,” Kauri said, and Ona laughed when he handed her a halved coconut shell that smelt very strongly of alcohol.</p>
<p>“This brings back memories,” she said, sitting up from where she had been lying on their bed and stretching before she reached for it. Kauri’s eyes followed the movement unabashedly and he grinned at her as she took a sip and tried not to wheeze. “Stronger than the dream version Wael gave me, though!”</p>
<p>“We actually call it Wael’s Wind,” he told her, amused. “If you drink too many of those, you might find yourself missing some memories.”</p>
<p>She laughed and took another sip, before putting it down on the floor beside the bed.</p>
<p>“Ready to carry on?” Kauri asked, and Ona lay back down, Kauri guiding her so that she was lying in the same position as before, his touch familiar and lingering, before leaning back against the wall with his sketchbook.</p>
<p>Like so many of their ideas, this had started out as a joke that they decided to act on. And while Ona had been a bit, well, <em>startled </em>when Wael had brought up the notion of Kauri drawing her without any clothes on that one time (though she was pretty sure that her boss had just been messing with her!) in actuality the sensation of Kauri’s focused attention on her, the heat of his gaze, the slow curve of his smile as he sketched… it was a <em>good</em> feeling. Yeah, it was really something.</p>
<p>Ona lay as still as she could as the phantom feeling caused by the magic charcoal traced across her whole body, almost as if it was Kauri who was touching her.</p>
<p>Finally, the charcoal stopped glittering and Kauri grinned at her. “All done,” he told her.</p>
<p>Ona sat up eagerly. “Ooh, let me see!”</p>
<p>Kauri came and sat next to her but as she reached for the sketchbook he darted his hand out and tickled her instead, following her as she fell back against the pillows and kissed her through her laughter.</p>
<p>Ona didn’t get a chance to look at the drawing until <em>much </em>later. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Please note that Wael was definitely just trolling Ona when they made a comment about Kauri drawing her with no clothes on!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Witch Hazel and Impatiens</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bazylia_de_Grean also prompted witch hazel (a spell) and impatiens (impatience) for Ona, so here is another spell she is eager to learn!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ona laughed breathlessly as Kauri finished murmuring his spell and their bodies started sparkling. She held her shimmering hand up to admire it, then wound his glittering braids around her fingers, thoroughly entranced.</p>
<p>“How did you do that?” she asked him, and he smiled.</p>
<p>“Magic, Sparkle. I can show you later – unless you want a lesson now?” He winked at her, and Ona pretended to think about it for a couple of seconds, long enough for Kauri to grin and tickle her.</p>
<p>She squirmed, though not to get away, and laughed. “You know, later is good too!”</p>
<p>Kauri bent down to kiss her again, and for a while Ona forgot to wonder about the spell.   </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Forsythia – anticipation/Jonquil - desire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p><b>Forsythia – anticipation/Jonquil - desire:</b> prompted by Bazylia_de_Grean!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ona understood why Kauri wanted to wait until they were, you know, physically together in the same place and awake before they were <em>together</em> (though she couldn’t deny that she was curious about <em>how</em> exactly the mechanics of that would have worked if they had tried in their dream!) and while she wasn’t particularly good at waiting for things she wanted, <em>anticipation</em> turned out to be something quite different, something pretty exciting! It was like a secret that she kept turning over in her mind the same way she would play with a coin in her pocket, occupying her thoughts in the weirdest moments.</p><p>And when they were finally together, when anticipation sparked into desire, Ona realised that sometimes waiting for things did turn out to be fun!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. After you, my dear/ Starting With A Kiss Meant To Be Gentle, Ending Up In Passion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p><b>After you, my dear/ Starting With A Kiss Meant To Be Gentle, Ending Up In Passion:</b> two different prompts from Bazylia_de_Grean that I combined into one!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When they finally arrived on the island, Ona looked around her, wide-eyed and breathless with anticipation – they were here, at last! Even though the shiny black rocks and rivers of lava were very different from the mystery beach from her dreams, it felt the same somehow, the same sense of <em>wonder</em> and the feeling of Wael’s presence there – she knew now why Kauri had called the island holy – and she couldn’t wait to explore. She had never seen a volcano outside of pictures.</p><p>When they reached the steps that led down into the sanctuary, Ona stopped to take it all in. The carved eye of Wael high above her seemed to wink down at her, and she laughed and winked back.</p><p>Kauri looked back at her, a smile on his face though he was watching her intently. “Welcome to the Hall of the Unseen, sparkle. Are you ready?”</p><p>She laughed, all but bouncing on her toes in her enthusiasm. “Course I am!” Kauri’s smile widened and Ona took advantage of being a few steps higher than him to tug him into a kiss.</p><p>It was meant to be just a quick kiss, but Kauri laughed and pulled her into his arms so that she was not precariously leaning over the steps and her hands tangled into his hair without her quite intending it and she poured all of her excitement and joy into the kiss.</p><p>After, well she didn’t know how long, Kauri drew back. “As much as I’m enjoying this, they’re waiting for us inside.” He lowered her back to the steps, his touch lingering, and Ona laughed.</p><p>“Who’s waiting for us?” she asked, and Kauri gestured towards the door with a grin.</p><p>“Why don’t you find out?” he told her. “After you, sparkle.“</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Kiss under a full moon/Kisses Where One Person Is Sitting In The Other’s Lap</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p><b>Kiss under a full moon/ Kisses Where One Person Is Sitting In The Other’s Lap</b> prompted by Bazylia_de_Grean!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The full moon over the ocean was one of the most beautiful things that Ona had ever seen. The dark waves glimmered silver as they lapped against the ship, and Ona stayed outside watching for what must have been longer than she realised.</p>
<p>“What are you doing out here, sparkle?” Kauri said, coming to join her at the railings, putting his arm around her as she leant into him.</p>
<p>“Just moonbathing,” Ona said with a grin, remembering her visits to the mystery beach. “Seems a shame to go below deck when the moon’s so bright, though.”  </p>
<p>Kauri laughed. “Who says we have to?” He led her across the deck and sat down, leaning his back against a crate, and tugged Ona down into his lap.</p>
<p>“Comfortable?” Kauri asked with a grin, and Ona laughed, draping her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers into his hair.  </p>
<p>“Very!” she replied, and leaned forward to kiss him, Kauri smiling against her lips as he kissed her back insistently, and all thoughts of watching the moon went out of Ona’s head.</p>
<p>She was so distracted that didn’t even notice when the moon started to set.  </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. “I’ve missed you” kiss/Kiss on the ear</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p><b>“I’ve missed you” kiss/Kiss on the ear</b> for Bazylia_de_Grean!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ona had been working in the Temple of Revelations for a few months when Kauri had left again for a short while, on another mission for Wael.</p>
<p>And while Ona knew that they wouldn’t always travel together, and that sometimes their duties were bound to take them to different places every now and then, it did feel a bit strange after their long journey to the Deadfire and the months together in the Temple.</p>
<p>Ona was too busy to dwell on it much, though. She had several projects of her own to work on during the day and there were <em>so many </em>books to read, more than she had ever dreamed of! And at night after writing in her diary she always took the chance to send Kauri a message or a sketch with the magic charcoal (well, <em>most</em> nights she sent a message. <em>Some</em> nights, at least. The dream magic could be a bit unpredictable!) and smiled every morning when there was a message for her in her notebook.</p>
<p>She really was looking forward to Kauri getting back, however – there were so many things that she had waiting to talk to him about, and while he had been away she’d come up with plenty of fun ideas for them to try too!</p>
<p>(She may have written a list!)    </p>
<p>Then one afternoon, several weeks later, she was so focused on creatively editing a scroll that she was taken completely by surprise when a hand covered her eyes from behind and lips brushed against the edge of her ear.</p>
<p>“Hello, sparkle,” Kauri murmured against her ear, his voice amused as she tilted her head back, smiling up at him despite the fact that her eyes were still covered.</p>
<p>“You’re here!” she exclaimed, and he laughed and moved his hand. “You didn’t tell me you would be back today!”</p>
<p>“I wanted to surprise you,” Kauri told her, grinning. “And I might have brought another surprise back with me.”</p>
<p>“Oooh, show me later?” Ona asked, and clambered up onto her chair in order to more easily pull him into the kiss she had spent weeks looking forward to, and Kauri laughed into the kiss and pulled her even closer.</p>
<p>It really had been <em>far</em> too long since the last time they’d kissed and Ona was more than eager to make up for lost time.  </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. A kiss because I have literally been watching you all night and I can’t take anymore</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"A kiss because I have literally been watching you all night and I can’t take anymore" prompted by aban-ataashi on tumblr!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They came ashore on an island that Ona was still trying to learn the name of, in need of fresh supplies and some minor repairs on the ship, and the huana locals were more than helpful – Ona thought that they must be excited to get visitors! They completely welcomed the whole crew into their village, re-supplied and helped them re-fit the ship, and invited them to a festival the village was holding that night.</p><p>“What’s the festival for?” Ona asked the priestess who had invited them as she sipped on her drink, sat cross-legged on a woven mat on the floor of the temple.</p><p>“It is to thank Ngati for her bounty,” she replied with a smile, refilling her cup. “You would say Ondra, I think.”</p><p>“We would, yes!” Ona said, as she looked around the small temple in interest. The iconography was unfamiliar to her, but now that she knew who Ngati was all the fish imagery started to make a lot more sense.</p><p>She chatted with the priestess for a while until the door to the temple opened and Kauri entered, coming over join them with a smile. Ona grinned at him as he sat next to her, close enough that their legs were touching, and passed over her cup so that he could finish her drink.</p><p>The priestess smiled, something warm in her gaze as she looked at them. “We have found suitable clothes for you for tonight,” she said to Kauri, gesturing towards the door that led to her living quarters, and then she looked at Ona. “And clothes for you also, my daughter’s old dress from when she was younger.”</p><p>“Much younger, probably,” Ona joked and the priestess laughed.</p><p>“Just so! But it should fit you well enough. Dress and join us when you are ready, I must see to the final preparations.” She nodded at them as she left, and Ona grinned over at Kauri, excited.</p><p>Kauri smiled back, slow and amused. “Let’s see how you find Deadfire fashions, sparkle.” He stood, leaving his cup on the floor, and reached down to pull her both to her feet and into his arms, and Ona laughed and kissed him.</p><p>After a distracted moment, they headed into the priestess’ home to change. Ona found the dress that had been set out for her – a deep purple colour with a bold patten on the skirt – and it fitted her well enough once she tied it at the neck and cinched it tight around the waist with a sash that she assumed had been left for that purpose. It left her calves, shoulders and back bare, which was <em>very </em>different from the robes she was used to, or the dresses she very occasionally had worn back home, but it was warm enough in the Deadfire even in the evening that she didn’t mind at all.  </p><p>There were no shoes that would fit her, which was not surprising when she thought about it, but it wasn’t exactly a hardship to go barefoot on the beach.</p><p>When Ona finished dressing, she turned around to see if Kauri was ready, and found herself <em>staring. </em></p><p>She had been in the Deadfire long enough to have seen some traditional outfits by now, but seeing <em>Kauri</em> in them was something different entirely. It was such a huge contrast to his usual simple dark robes that she couldn’t tear her eyes away. His chest was bare, and the green robe with the geometric pattern suited him perfectly.</p><p>Kauri laughed at the expression on her face. “You’re staring, sparkle.”</p><p>She laughed too, feeling herself blush a little, but she didn’t bother trying to deny it. “Yup, I am!” she agreed.</p><p>Seeing him in that outfit was <em>almost</em> enough to make her want to skip the festival.</p><p>
  <em>Almost.</em>
</p><p>Kauri’s eyes roamed appreciatively over her in return, a lazy grin on his face. “I knew getting you into Deadfire clothing would be a good idea – and it’ll be an even better one when it’s time to get you out of it.”</p><p>Ona giggled and pulled him down into a kiss, hands lingering on his broad shoulders for a few moments before she pulled back. “Come on, they’re going to start without us!”</p><p>Kauri laughed and took her hand and they headed out towards the bonfires on the beach.</p><p>Once they were close enough, Ona could hear the villagers singing. She couldn’t understand the words, but the cadence of it put her in mind of a hymn. She made a mental note to ask Kauri about it later and turned her attention back to the festival.</p><p>The priestess she had befriended earlier spoke briefly, although while Ona didn’t know what she was saying, she thought it definitely had a sermon-y tone, but after that the serious part of the evening seemed to be over, as musicians started playing a livelier tune and the villagers started dancing.</p><p>Ona let herself be swept up into the dance, first by Kauri, but then by some of the locals and their crew members, who were also all dressed up for the event, and in between the dancing she tried the alcohol and food (mostly fish, prepared in many different ways) that were pressed into her hands by the cooks, all of which she thoroughly enjoyed.</p><p>But no matter what she was doing, even when she wasn’t dancing with him, she was always very aware of Kauri, his dazzling grin, the sound of his laughter and the way the firelight made the yellow markings on his skin shimmer like they had been drawn in golden ink. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, and her hands were itching to touch him.</p><p>After a few of hours of the festival, she’d had enough of just watching him and the next time she found herself dancing with him, she pulled him into an eager kiss, fuelled by hours of waiting, unaware of the amused and indulgent gazes they were attracting.</p><p>Kauri lifted her up and kissed her back instantly before pulling back to murmur, “ready to get out of here?” lowly in her ear.</p><p>Ona nodded enthusiastically and when he put her back down, followed him out of the bright circle of firelight without looking back.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Sciamachy – sham fighting for exercise or practice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sciamachy prompted by rannadylin on tumblr!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ona looked up and smiled when Kauri appeared over her shoulder, glancing down at all the scrolls of illusion magic she had been pouring through. “How are the magic lessons going, sparkle?” he asked with a grin.</p>
<p>She turned her notebook so he could see. “Pretty good! Though I started reading this scroll and it started off describing the difference between faith magic and arcana and then ended up somehow giving instructions on how to make the perfect sandwich and now I’m kind of hungry…”</p>
<p>Kauri laughed and bent to ruffle her hair, and Ona leaned back against him, smiling. “How about we practise for a bit, then go and get something to eat?” he suggested.</p>
<p>Ona bounced out of her seat and stretched. She hadn’t realised it while she had been studying, but she had been sitting still for a while. “Practise how?”</p>
<p>Kauri stepped between her and the door, a lazy grin spreading across his face. “See if you can use a spell to sneak past me and out of the door.”</p>
<p>“What do I get if I can?” Ona asked, grinning back at him eagerly.</p>
<p>Kauri laughed. “I’ll think of something you’ll like, sparkle, don’t worry.”</p>
<p>“Sounds fun!” Ona said, and at the same time threw her hand out and cast Arkemyr’s Dazzling Lights and tried to dodge around him but Kauri waved his own hand and a vortex of glittering motes of light whirled around her and spun her back to where she started as Ona laughed in delight.</p>
<p>Kauri laughed as well. “Not bad, sparkle.”</p>
<p>She grinned at him and murmured a prayer to cast Mirrored Image, hoping that she could sneak out of the door while Kauri tried to catch one of her copies, but he cast the same spell and she bumped right into him while trying to dodge his copies, giggling when he caught her.  </p>
<p>“Third time lucky!” Ona said as she stepped back to the middle of the room, before she closed her eyes and tried to make herself invisible – she had never actually tried it, but she had just been reading about it and it didn't seem <em>that </em>difficult. Probably.</p>
<p>(She was almost sure she heard her boss’s familiar laughter, right at the edge of her hearing, as she silently said the prayer).</p>
<p>She wasted a second to look down at herself in amazement to make sure it had worked (if only she had known how to do this back in Defiance Bay; she would have got away with <em>so much</em> stuff!), hand pressed against her lips to try and stop herself from laughing with excitement, before creeping around Kauri as quietly as she knew how.</p>
<p>For good measure, she drew on an old thief trick, and conjured a footstep noise from the other side of Kauri to draw his attention away from her, and his head turned towards it even as his hands lit up with a spell of his own.</p>
<p>She might have even made it to the door if the edge of her robe hadn't brushed against a chair that had got displaced in their sparring, dislodging some papers she had put there earlier and making just enough noise for Kauri to spin around and grab her, tickling her as she tried to escape.</p>
<p>Ona dropped the spell, reappearing as she squirmed and giggled until she was completely out of breath, and Kauri leaned down to kiss her, a smile on his lips.</p>
<p>“Not bad at all,” he said, and Ona grinned up at him.</p>
<p>“It's hard to sneak in robes! You think I would learned that by now. They rustle!”</p>
<p>“Well,” Kauri said, his tone practical, though his grin was anything but. “You could always take them off.”</p>
<p>“You know,” Ona said, winding his braids around her fingers and pulling him down into another kiss. “That sounds like an excellent plan!”</p>
<p>By the time they made it out of the study, Ona was <em>starving</em>.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. meteor shower</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"meteor shower" prompted by aban-ataashi on tumblr!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ona had been at sea for a grand total of three days before she climbed the rigging and found her way into the crow’s nest.</p><p>She wasn’t scared of heights – she’d spent a good portion of her life running around on rooftops, after all – but scaling a building was very different from climbing up ropes. They moved around a lot more in the wind, for one thing. And they were kind of wobbly. She’d fallen off them a couple of times, though fortunately not from very high.</p><p>She <em>had</em> ended up with a few bruises in interesting places for her efforts, but Kauri had already promised to kiss them better later, which was, yeah. Something to look forward to.</p><p>By the time Ona actually made it into the crow’s nest, it was getting dark, and she watched the sun set over the waves from what felt like a thousand miles up in the air, and she lingered to watch the stars to come out, full of the same, breathless, giddy joy she’d felt since she had first boarded the ship. It was just so <em>amazing </em>out there<em>, </em>every single part of it. </p><p>She stayed up in the crow’s nest for long enough to wish she had brought her scarf with her before deciding to make her way down – and since down was usually easier than up she wasn’t too worried about climbing in the dark – when she saw a flash from the corner of her eye and turned her head just in time to see a shooting star fall over the horizon.</p><p>Not just one, like she had sometimes seen back home from the roof of the Archives, but dozens of them, falling through the sky as fast as rain, but so much <em>brighter</em>, so close Ona felt like she could reach out and touch them, yet still so unimaginably far away.</p><p>She reached into her pocket for the spyglass she had, uh, <em>borrowed </em>from one of the crew (she was going to give it back, honestly!) and used it to follow the path of the falling stars, laughing in pure awe. She’d never seen anything like this before, and it was <em>beautiful.</em></p><p>“Where do they come from?” she murmured aloud to herself. “And where are they going?”</p><p>In her mind, she heard her boss’s laughter. “Where would the fun be if we just told you, pal? Some secrets are worth keeping.”</p><p>Ona laughed too, and watched the stars until they stopped falling, the cold entirely forgotten.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. kiss in the water</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"kiss in the water" prompted by aban-ataashi on tumblr!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Wow, it is super fancy in here,” Ona said, and even though she pitched her voice relatively low, it still echoed out across the empty marble floors of the Luminous Bathhouse in Neketaka.</p>
<p>Ona glanced quickly towards the door but relaxed again when no one emerged to investigate the sound, and Kauri grinned at her.</p>
<p>“It was worth sneaking in, then?” he asked, and Ona laughed.</p>
<p>“It’s always worth sneaking in places! Though someday you’re going to have to tell me what you did to get banned from here!” Ona replied, amused.</p>
<p>To be fair, they had tried to get into the Bathhouse the regular way – Ona had even tried to <em>actually</em> pay! – but as soon as the attendants saw Kauri they were firmly, and literally, chased away.</p>
<p>Which explained why they had secretly doubled back to the Bathhouse, scaled up to the balcony with the aid of a little invisibility magic, and used a little more magic to disguise themselves as a fabulously wealthy Aumaua couple so they could wait for the Bathhouse to empty out without attracting any extra attention.</p>
<p>(Ona had also taken the chance to swipe some of the posh bathing suits and robes and bath oils from the empty bedroom they were hiding in – after all, she had <em>tried</em> to pay so it was only fair!)</p>
<p>Eventually, after the baths were closed for cleaning and before they reopened to the public, they sneaked their way into the empty bathhouse and dropped the spells so they were themselves again (though it had been kind of fun looking tall for once!).</p>
<p>Kauri laughed. “Maybe I’ll tell you one day, sparkle – if you’ve been good.”</p>
<p>“Well, I can’t promise that!” Ona smiled back over at him, then crouched down and dipped her hand into the warm, shimmering blue water. “So, there’s luminous adra in here?” she asked him, distracted. “What’s it supposed to do?”</p>
<p>“They say it has a rejuvenating effect,” Kauri explained, coming to join her at the edge of the pool.</p>
<p>“Huh. Does it work?” Ona asked.</p>
<p>“Why don’t you find out?” he asked with a grin and Ona laughed as she stripped off her newly acquired robe and slipped into the water as quietly as she could.</p>
<p>She settled back against the edge of the pool as Kauri joined her, his arm brushing hers.</p>
<p>The water was warm enough to be relaxing, but not so warm it made her feel sticky, the water was sparkly and pretty and the bathhouse itself was very beautiful. It was… nice.</p>
<p>“So we just… sit here and wait for the water to rejuvenate us or something?” Ona asked after a couple of minutes of soaking.</p>
<p>“Well,” Kauri said, leaning closer, “I can think of a way to pass the time.”</p>
<p>Ona closed her eyes in anticipation only to open them in shock a second later when Kauri dunked her fully under the water. She emerged a split second later, laughing and sputtering a bit, and sent a massive retaliatory splash of water towards Kauri’s face, forgetting entirely the need to be quiet.</p>
<p>Kauri splashed her back, and then surged forwards and tickled her, Ona’s laughter ringing out, amplified by the marble room, but not so loudly that it drowned out the sudden angry voices outside the door to the bathhouse.</p>
<p>Ona instinctively sucked in a deep breath and ducked down under the water, hiding in the only possible place (even if it wasn’t exactly a great one, as hiding places go!) and Kauri ducked under a second later. He pulled her close so she was practically in his lap and kissed her, and Ona could tell even under the water that he was laughing. She tangled her fingers into his wet braids and kissed him back, grinning giddily against his lips even as air came bubbling out of their noses and mouths, until she couldn’t stay under the water any longer, whether they were caught or not.</p>
<p>Ona broke the surface with a gasp, lightheaded from more than just the lack of air, to discover that the bathhouse was still empty apart from them, and that the surface of the water was shimmering with magic and not just from the luminous adra.</p>
<p>“Clever,” she said admiringly to Kauri as he emerged from the water.</p>
<p>“I know,” he replied, a lazy grin on his face and Ona laughed as she took advantage of basically being in his lap to pull him into another kiss, and then another.</p>
<p>(The next time the attendants came back they were too, uh, <em>preoccupied</em> to hear them open the door, so they did get kicked out of the bathhouse a second time. But Ona <em>did</em> manage to retrieve her bag of stolen goodies as they made their escape, so all in all, a good trip!)</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. "I'm not drunk enough for this!"</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bazylia_de_Grean prompted "I'm too drunk for this" a while back and I realised that Ona, who is not a big spider fan, will at some point come across that spider-powered lift in the Forgotten Sanctum!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ona paused mid-step as she followed Kauri down a brand new hallway in the Collections, one she had not explored yet, and hadn’t even known was there until today. “Uh, why is that lift covered in spiderwebs?”</p>
<p>Kauri didn’t answer, but he grinned, slow and amused, and Ona looked again at the lift, more carefully.</p>
<p>“The lift… <em>is</em> a spiderweb, isn’t it?” she asked after a long moment of hoping she was wrong, pulling a face. “You could have warned me!”</p>
<p>“It was more fun this way,” Kauri said with a laugh, and Ona mock-glared at him for a second before she gave up pretending and started laughing as well.</p>
<p>“Yeah, that’s fair!” she said. In her head she heard her boss’ familiar laugh echoing in her mind, clearly finding the whole thing funny too, and Ona smiled to herself.</p>
<p>“Well, at least it’s just the spiderweb, right? Not an actual spider?” Ona asked hopefully, before following Kauri’s gaze to the eight massive bright eyes staring down at them. “Right. Of <em>course</em> there’s a super huge spider as well. Looking at me. I’m am so not drunk enough for this!”</p>
<p>“The spider pulls the lift,” Kauri informed her, still grinning as he took a few steps forwards and opened the sticky web door.</p>
<p>“What’s even up there?” Ona asked, wrinkling her nose a bit at the strands of web that came loose. “It can’t be that great, right?”</p>
<p>“You’ll never know if you don’t get in,” Kauri pointed out temptingly, and Ona knew that she would of course be going in the spider-lift, even before Kauri added; “I’ll make it worth your while if you do.”</p>
<p>“I’ll hold you to that!” Ona told him, grinning.</p>
<p>Kauri laughed, stepping forwards and tugging her close. “I should hope so!” He kissed her until she was breathless, until all her fear of the lift and the spider watching her had completely fled her mind.</p>
<p>“After you, sparkle,” Kauri said once they drew away, and Ona blinked, coming back to herself and looking at the spider-lift with a little sigh.    </p>
<p>“Ugh, where’s a stelgaer when you need one?” Ona asked and Kauri laughed, following her into the lift, and up to the mysteries beyond.      </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Inspiration</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bazylia_de_Grean prompted me to write Benilde's story as narrated by Ona!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>“Wait,” </em> <em>Benilde cried out desperately as her love walked away from her. “Don’t leave me.”</em></p>
<p>
  <em>He stopped at the slightest touch of her hand against his skin, gasping as if the touch burned him.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“How can I stay?” he asked, voice broken, adra eyes searching hers beseechingly. “If you do not trust me with the work of your hands, how can you trust me with the gift of your heart?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“It is not <span class="u">you</span> I don’t trust!” Benilde exclaimed desperately. “But my work protects me.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Let <span class="u">me</span> protect you,” he whispered earnestly, cupping her cheek with his hand. “With your work, your dreams... your <span class="u">heart</span>.”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She leaned into his hand, captivated and adoring. “How can I refuse?” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She pulled him into a kiss, felt him smile against her lips as they stumbled backwards towards the workbench, his hand sweeping all the tools to the floor before reaching for her...</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>...</em>
</p>
<p>Ona was so absorbed in her writing that she didn’t notice Kauri behind her until she felt his lips press against her ear.</p>
<p>She tilted her head back to grin up at him.</p>
<p>He grinned back at her. “What are you writing, sparkle?”</p>
<p>She passed up the pages for him to read. “Remember that dairy we found about that Animat Foundry in the Deadfire? I was just... expanding the story a little!”</p>
<p>The copy of the dairy she had found in the Restricted Section had been translated from Engwithan to Old Vailian, which Ona could more or less read most of (though not out loud! She was a bit out of practice speaking modern Vailian, let alone this ancient dialect!), but it wasn't as if not understanding a word or two here or there had ever held back her creativity!</p>
<p>She had removed all the technical bits about implanting a soul in an animat, and greatly expanded on the hints of a tragic love story present in the account, and it was a lot more interesting because of it, even if she did say so herself!</p>
<p>Ona waved at one of the eyeless librarians as he walked past (he waved back) then flipped through the pages of the dairy as Kauri read over her work, laughing every now and then as he did, until her attention was caught by a sketch. It was presumably of the man Benilde had loved and been betrayed by. He <em>was</em> pretty good looking, with dark hair and deep eyes, but he also seemed... oddly familiar?</p>
<p>Before she could place him, Kauri laughed and handed her the pages back. “Much more entertaining than the original!”</p>
<p>“I thought so too!” Ona replied. “Just wait till I get to the dramatic showdown at the end!”</p>
<p>“Though you seemed to have stopped just as it was getting good,” Kauri pointed out, his smile widening, slow and dazzling.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’m just getting to the juicy bits now!” Ona agreed with a grin of her own.</p>
<p>“Maybe you need some... inspiration?” Kauri suggested, sweeping the loose papers off her desk the way she had just written about, and Ona laughed as Kauri pulled her into a kiss, tangling her fingers into his braids as he picked her up and placed her on the desk, her work for the moment completely forgotten.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In the pillars of eternity ttrpg <s>one</s> three-shot I gm’d a few months ago, a group of intrepid treasure-hunters joined the crew of the Deck of Many Things and explored an ancient Engwithan animat foundry looking for treasures they could sell on the ship. The foundry was haunted by the spirit of a woman called Benilde ix Accalia who was seduced and betrayed by Thaos, who had been sent by the woman who would become the incarnation of Woedica to get the secrets of her animats.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. quiet moments prompt: reading together</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>For aban-ataashi who prompted reading together from the quiet moments list.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One of Ona’s first missions after settling into the Forgotten Sanctum was to find a good spot to read in.</p><p>Not the library. The library, of course, was <em>amazing </em>(there were <em>so many</em> books, of all different kinds, and she didn’t think she would ever be over it), but a spot just for her, the way she used to sneak onto the roof of the Archives and read under the stars.  </p><p>(It was hard to perch on the side of a volcano. She had the scrapes and bruises to prove it).</p><p>Then one day a while after her arrival, she happened to spot a door she had never seen before, slightly ajar where it had previously been shut tight and hidden.</p><p>So, she of course opened it.</p><p>Inside was a dusty desk with a dustier book on it – it didn’t look like anyone had been in here for a long time. The book when she opened it and flicked through seemed to be a handwritten record of some sort, but not in any language she could read. She made a mental note to look into it later and turned to the window.</p><p>There was a high slit in the rock wall, one of the few windows she had found in the Sanctum, and moonlight streamed through it. And when Ona stepped into the moonlight, she held out her hands with a grin because she could <em>feel </em>it.</p><p>It was like stepping into a patch of sunlight, but cool and refreshing instead of warm, and for a second the moonlight flickered, almost as if it had winked at her. It was also bright enough that she didn’t need a candle or lantern to read with.</p><p>And, if the plush (though threadbare and dusty) chair directly in the patch of moonlight was any indication, she was not the first person to settle down here to read. Ona wiped the chair ineffectively with her sleeve before she sat down and pulled the heavy astronomy book she had found out of her satchel, staring at the complex diagrams, so different from anything she had read before.</p><p>She wasn’t sure how long she had been reading when she heard familiar footsteps outside the door and Kauri poked his head around the door.</p><p>“I wondered how long it would take for you to find this place, sparkle,” he said, a slow grin spreading across his face.</p><p>Ona laughed, and patted the chair invitingly. Kauri crossed the room and instead of squeezing in beside her, he picked her up and sat down, arranging them so that she and the book were both comfortably in his lap.</p><p>Ona giggled, curling up against his chest, and almost dropped the book when he took the opportunity to tickle her briefly.</p><p>“What’re you reading?” he asked her, and Ona tilted the book so she could see. “Good choice, sparkle,” he said, brushing his lips across her ear as he spoke, and she grinned up at him, perfectly content.</p><p>Ona absently tangled the fingers of her free hand into his hair as they read, and for a little while there was no noise but the rustling of ancient pages.    </p><p>     </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><i>A road without length</i> is a phrase from the in game book <i>Missive of the Hand Occult</i> - the context is not quite the same but I thought it captured the 'adventures on the horizon' feeling of the end of Ona's epilogue.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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